The Calm after the Storm
by iwishiwasluna-xoxo
Summary: What happens after the war? Can Harry and Ginny get back on track? What's in store for Ron and Hermione. What about George and the rest of the Weasley's? It's all right here...
1. Grief

Harry descended the spiral staircase and began wandering aimlessly around the castle, allowing his grief to finally take hold. Unaware of where his legs where carrying him, Harry suddenly found himself in the corridor that Fred lost his life. Harry slid down the crumbling wall, remembering not only Fred but the rows of bodies lying in the Great Hall. With his head in his hands, his shoulders moving in time with his agonizing sobs, his salty tears stung the wounds on his sunken cheeks.

***

Hermione watched the door of the Headmaster's office close behind Harry's retreating back.

"Do you think we should go after him?" Hermione asked, "Ron?" she said turning to face the room.

Ron was sitting behind the desk looking resolutely ahead, tears streaming silently down his face. Under Hermione's gaze he shook his head in answer.

"Oh Ron", said Hermione as she strode around the desk to embrace him. She pulled away slightly saying in barely a whisper,

"About what happened in the Room of Requirement, I–". Ron kissed her mid sentence pulling away only to ask,

"Does that answer your question?"

"Uh...em...I", words utterly failing her for once she nodded. Ron pulled her on to his lap and held her close allowing her a shoulder to cry on as he let his tears fall in to her wild hair.

After a while Hermione stood taking Ron's hand in hers and led him from the room to Gryffindor Tower. Ron said nothing, too overcome with grief to protest that he felt he should be with his family, with Fred. She guided him into the seventh year boys' dormitory,

"You need to try to sleep" she said softly to him.

He sat on the edge of the bed and toed off his shoes, while Hermione removed a bottle of Dittany from her pocket.

"Here", she said soothingly as she tended to his wounds with a conjured washcloth.

She stood and made to leave, with her hand on the door handle she heard Ron speak,

"Stay" he said hoarsely.

She walked slowly back to his bed and perched uncertainly on the edge of it. Ron let his hand rest on hers and she sunk back into the pillows. Ron held her tightly and she rested her head on his chest. They lay there in complete silence, each other's embrace being enough for comfort. Hermione waited until she heard Ron's breathing change to that of a heavy sleep before surrendering to sleep herself.

***

Harry had no more tears to shed. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, but it had gotten dark and had been for a while. He stood and turned his back on the wreckage and made his way down the ruined marble staircase intending to go and apologise to the Weasley's about not being able to save Fred. He stood in the door of the great hall and took in the sight before him. Mrs Weasley was still clinging to the front of Fred's jumper, her head resting on the 'F' in the middle of his chest as though straining to hear the faintest flicker of his heart, tears streaming from her hopeless eyes. George was kneeling with Fred's head resting on his knees whispering in his ear,

"Come on, Fred get up, please" he pleaded staring into Fred's glassy eyes, "Please, come on, enough...enough".

George lifted his hand and shut his brother's eyes and placed his forehead on Fred's and cried agonisingly. Charlie stood behind George tears falling silently as he embraced Percy, who was bawling into his shoulder. Bill was being supported by Fleur, both of whom were in tears. Mr Weasley knelt next to Mrs Weasley his hand soothingly rubbing her back and he too cried heart wrenchingly forgetting to wipe the tears from his cheeks. Ginny. Harry's heart clenched as he looked at her. She stood staring at Fred's body sorrow deep in her eyes as her tears too fell freely. Bile rose in Harry's throat and he raced to the front doors, vomiting at the bottom of the steps. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and ran down the sloping lawn to Dumbledore's tomb. As he reached it he kicked it as hard as he could and began pummelling the marble taking no notice of the bruises he was creating on his knuckles.

"Why did you let this happen!" he bellowed. "You kept everything from me! If you'd told me I could have done all of this sooner! Or better! Fred wouldn't have had to die or Lupin or Tonks or anyone! I hate you!" he screamed in anguish. He continued to scream and assault the tomb until his energy burnt out. With his chest falling and rising rapidly he walked over to his favourite tree by the lake and threw himself under it. He looked skywards with tears in his eyes,

"It's all my fault" he breathed.

***

Ginny had been standing in the same position for the last three hours staring at Fred and joining her family's grief. She could feel someone looking at her and she raised her head to see Harry running from the door of the great hall. She moved away from her family none of them noticing her leave. She watched Harry bent double at the bottom of the stairs retching; she made no move to help him. The next thing she knew Harry was running flat out towards the edge of the forest; no towards Dumbledore's tomb. Ginny followed at a slower pace and watched the man that saved them all rage and yell in rage. She was completely torn. She ached still harder watching the man she loved have so much pain, but she couldn't help being implausibly angry. Harry had made her think he was dead. In that moment, the moment she had seen Hagrid carrying his body from the forest, she felt like part of her had died. Her heart ached so deeply in that second she felt like it could truly be enough to kill her and let her join him. Her emotions went into overdrive in that instant,

'_First Fred and now my soul mate?' _she thought. That's went she had been stupid enough to try and take on Bellatrix single handed, if Hermione and Luna hadn't joined her, followed by her mother she would have surely been dead.

'_But isn't that what I wanted?' _she thought watching Harry kick the tomb again before pulling back a fist and hammering the marble. In that moment she didn't want to live anymore. She had wanted to join Harry so that they could be together forever like she had fantasized of since she was a little girl dreaming of "The boy who lived". She watched Harry step back from the tomb and stride over to sit under a tree by the lake, _'Our tree'._ That was the tree they had sat under while she studied for her O.. She stood for a moment contemplating whether or not she should go and talk to him, her legs began carrying her towards Harry regardless.

***

Harry's eyes burned with the threat of tears once more. He saw Ginny out of the corner of his eye. He stood to face her taking in her beauty,

'_God she's breathtaking' _Harry observed inwardly.

Ginny stood looking at Harry. He looked awful. His face was sunken visibly showing his cheek bones and his clothes hung off of his slight frame. He was covered in burns, scars and fresh cuts. She lifted her deep brown eyes to find that his were no longer the startling emerald she once remembered. They were bloodshot and ominous, a sadness she had seen before when Sirius had died and he had refused to surface from his dormitory. She was at a loss of what to do.

Harry looked into her miserable, but beautiful brown eyes. Her expression was incomprehensible. He had no idea what she was thinking and he usually always did. This unnerved him to some extent.

Ginny stepped forward her lip trembling. Harry gazed down at her, his guilt threatening to tear at his heart.

"Ginny I-"

SMACK. Ginny's tightly furled fist made contact with his cheek bone in a punch that reverberated across the surface of the lake.

Harry staggered backwards. He took it like his punishment. He made no move to defend himself when she continued to punch every inch of him she could; he felt like he deserved it, Fred's death was entirely his fault, as was everyone currently lying on the floor in the great hall.

"You made me think you were dead!" Ginny bawled, tears mingling with her anger.

Harry pulled her into a tight embrace refusing to let go as she soaked the front of his torn jumper her fist still pounding his chest.

"Shh...I'm sorry" he said consolingly.

"It doesn't mean I forgive you" she mumbled into the fabric.

"I know" he said gently rubbing her back his other hand running through her fiery hair.

Harry held Ginny until she abruptly pulled away wiping her face on her sleeves.

"Explain everything" she demanded turning away.

"I can do better...I'll show you."


	2. Explanations

He tried to take her hand in his, only for her to pull it away. Harry sighed and led the way to Dumbledore's old office intending to use the pensieve. They passed the great hall; Mrs Weasley was sitting on the edge of the bench staring now at the white sheet that covered Fred. George was curled up laying on his side next to Fred his hand gripping the sheet that covered his brother. Charlie looked up as they passed and gave a stiff nod to acknowledge them passing. Harry let out a breath that he hadn't known he was holding as they started up the stairs.

"How can you show me?" Ginny asked quietly as they made their way through the castle.

"I'm going to use Dumbledore's pensieve and show you everything, including what happened in the forest" he replied.

Harry climbed once more over the fallen gargoyle and led Ginny up the moving spiral staircase, through the door and over to the cabinet where the pensieve resided. He carried it over to the desk and raised his eyes to Dumbledore's portrait who merely nodded in consent. Harry lifted the tip of his wand to his temple as Ginny watched him pull it away several times dropping the memories into the swirling mist. After some time he looked into her eyes and asked,

"Ready?"

Ginny nodded.

"Just lean forward into the pensieve, I'll be right behind you" he instructed. Ginny did as she was told, holding her breath as her face made contact with the swirling mist. She fell into nothingness and landed into Dumbledore's office almost exactly where she had left. The sun was rising casting the room in a warm glow. She stood and watched as the Harry before her destroyed Dumbledore's office as he sat calmly surveying the demolition. Harry landed beside her wincing at his harsh words to Dumbledore. She watched as Dumbledore told him the prophecy was real and exactly what it would entail. She gasped and looked at Harry who simply nodded. The scene in front of her changed. She watched the meetings Dumbledore had had with Harry during his sixth year at school making all the proper sound effects when necessary. When the scene changed in front of her to the cave she grasped Harry's hand, tears sliding down her cheeks as she watched Dumbledore wail in pain; the panic in Harry's eyes as the Inferi made to pull him under the surface of the water.

She watched the murder of Dumbledore on top of the tower.

"I can't believe Snape fucking did that" she snarled watching as Dumbledore's limp body fall from the tower.

"Dumbledore was right. Snape was on our side the entire time. Dumbledore asked him to do it to spare Malfoy; he was dying anyway." said Harry simply. Her eyes narrowed; then comprehension met her features,

"His hand." It wasn't a question.

Harry nodded. As he watched himself tell Ron and Hermione his mission and them telling him that they would join him. She watched everything that had happened to him that year.

She watched the Death Eaters catching them in the cafe on Tottenham Court Road. She saw the break in at the Ministry, then Ron leaving. She walked with Harry and Hermione through Godric's Hollow grasping Harry's arm as fresh tears stung his eyes.

"Voldemort almost caught you!" she exclaimed, her watery eyes on Harry as she watched what happened in Bathilda's house. Harry nodded with his eyes wide as he noted Ginny saying 'Voldemort' rather than 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'. She observed Ron returning to save Harry from the bottom of the icy pool,

"Oh my!" she gasped watching as the Horcrux Harry and Hermione taunted Ron to tears.

It then moved on to them being captured by the Snatchers and dragged to Malfoy Manor. Ginny stood open mouthed as she watched Draco refuse to admit it was really them. She cried as she saw Luna and Ollivander being rescued and sobbed honestly as Harry dug Dobby's grave; his tears mingling with his sweat as he worked. She then watched each meeting with Griphook and Ollivander.

"I thought the tale of the three brothers was a fairytale" she said confusedly before Harry went on to explain the Peverell brothers and his invisibility cloak.

Ginny's eyebrows disappeared into her hair as she viewed the Gringotts break in. She felt a tug on her arm and then she was swirling through the mist and landed back in Dumbledore's office.

She turned to look at Harry, nothing but shock on her face.

"Okay well now you know..." he said feebly trailing off at the end.

"Well now I know? WELL NOW I KNOW!?" she yelled incredulously. "For fuck sake Harry how could you do all of that as if it was no big deal?" she was shaking.

"I just – I don't..." Ginny trailed off. "You almost died about a million times, how can you be so calm?" she murmured finally finding her voice.

Harry stood and looked at her.

"I dunno...I guess I just knew that I had to do it...I just came to terms with it I suppose. I knew what I had to do in order to destroy Voldemort and I did it knowing I may have died in the process."

Ginny looked at him, eyes glistening with tears, the setting sun dancing off of her beautiful hair.

"Why do you think I broke up with you last year?" he said in barely more than a whisper. "I wanted to give you a chance to move on. If I'd died I wanted you to be able to move forward and find love with someone else; just as much as I didn't want to make you a target."

Ginny raised her hand to touch Harry's cheek; he hissed through his teeth as Ginny traced her fingers over the blue bruises materializing under his eye. She pulled his face towards hers and murmured,

"I'm sorry..." as her lips brushed his.

He pulled away reluctantly and asked her, "Do you want to see what happened in the forest?"

Ginny nodded slowly.

"Okay, I need to explain something before I show you..." Harry started. Harry explained what had happened to him the night he and his family were attacked when he was one years old. Ginny stood open-mouthed as he then explained that the connection had grown stronger when Voldemort had used his blood to resurrect himself.

"So I guess you could say that my scar was a Horcrux...well it wasn't really but I don't really know what else to call It." he finished.

"Okay, I'm ready" she said after a short pause.

Harry took her hand and once more they delved into the depths of the Pensieve.

**

Ron could feel something heavy on his chest. He opened his eyes to find Hermione's head resting there and he noticed that wasn't the problem. He watched her sigh and bury her face deeper into his jumper. The heaviness in his heart intensified as he thought of what Fred would say if he saw him now,

"_Well it's about __**bloody**__ time! If you two took any longer to get together I would have hexed your lips together! Oh great, now we need to see you acting all mushy and romantic; well I guess it makes a nice change from you being a sour faced git." _

His lips curled into a sad smile and a lone tear rolled down his cheek. He reached up and wiped it away and felt his skin healing under his hand. Then he recalled Hermione cleaning him up before he went to sleep and noticed that her wounds were still red and angry. He looked around and noticed the washcloth and the bottle of Dittany sitting on his bedside table. He slid from under Hermione and rested her head on the pillow. Then he sat and gently tended to her injuries, constantly checking that he hadn't woke her. When it came to a particularly nasty burn on her thigh he heard her hiss through her teeth in pain. He jumped startled and quickly removed his hand,

"I'm sorry – they just looked really bad – I just wanted to help..." he said really quickly.

"It's okay" she said looking at the worry in his eyes; which lessened. "You don't have to though-,"

"I wanted to," he said cutting her off. "You were looking after me earlier and I never even thought...I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

Hermione was once again lost for words. She had never heard Ron willingly say sorry to her without him mumbling it and staring at his shoes. She had also never seen him look at her that way before; or had she?

She could remember that he had sometimes looked at her that way when they had been studying together in the common room, or when he stole glances at her. She sat up and cupped his face in her hands and kissed him tenderly.

"We can look after each other," she said softly as she pulled away.

Ron pulled her close and buried his head into her bushy hair and let his grief rule him once more.


	3. The Forest

They landed in the deserted and destroyed entrance hall.

"I'm under the invisibility cloak" Harry told Ginny. Hands still intertwined Harry led the way out to the grounds and immediately made his way towards Neville.

Neville stood above a body, a body of one of the fallen. He wiped his sleeve across his brow and leaned over to lift the body up.

"Harry, why are we...?" Ginny began, stopping abruptly as she saw Harry materialise from under his cloak.

The pair watched as Harry left Neville instructions to kill Nagini before throwing the cloak back over himself. They began walking towards the edge of the forest behind the invisible Harry.

"So that's why Neville killed Nagini?" Ginny asked already knowing the answer.

Harry nodded, "Yeah I thought that I should tell someone else then three people were still in on the secret like Dumbledore wanted. I obviously never explained that she was a Horcrux though. I figured the less people that know about that the better and well I wouldn't have had time to anyway."

They approached the outskirts of the forest and found Ginny comforting a girl.

Ginny gasped, "I felt you there. Well I felt someone watching me."

She looked into Harry's eyes. She was indignant and hurt all at once,

"Why didn't you say goodbye to me?"

"I wanted to, I really did" he said truthfully. He went on to further explain as she raised an eyebrow in disbelief,

"I stood here for five minutes just watching you. I wanted to say goodbye, kiss you one last time, tell you how much I'd miss you; but I knew that if I'd done it I wouldn't be able to leave you. Leaving you once was hard enough."

"I would have probably stopped you anyway", Ginny sighed after a short pause, knowing that she wouldn't have been able to do it either, had she been in his position.

"Come on", said Harry as he noticed the grass in front on him flatten as his invisible self stepped on it on his way into the forest.

They easily followed his unseen self due to the rustling he was making. They heard the soft whisper of _"I am about to die"_ and Harry watched as his Parents, Sirius and Lupin appeared and a sad smile met his lips. Ginny looked around waiting for something to happen and noticed Harry's face, then his disembodied voice,

"_Does it hurt?"_

"Uh, Harry who are you talking to?" asked Ginny confusedly.

"What can't you see them?" Harry asked in exactly the same tone as Ginny.

"Who?" she asked. Just as Harry's voice said,_ "I didn't want you to die, any of you. I'm sorry."_

"My Mum and Dad and Sirius and Lupin" he said. "I guess that Sirius was right they're part of me and that's why you can't see them", he added as an afterthought.

"Oh...I still don't get how you're talking to them though" said Ginny.

"I used the resurrection stone to bring them to me, Dumbledore left it to me in his will. It was in the snitch" he added noticing Ginny was about to ask the very question.

They followed once more as invisible Harry stopped talking and rustling could be heard once more. Once they heard the two Death Eaters discussing that they would have to back and tell their Master that Harry wasn't coming they began to follow them right into the clearing.

Ginny gripped Harry's hand tighter as she watched him remove the invisibility cloak and face Voldemort. She was startled as Hagrid began yelling, _"HARRY! NO!"_

The fear in her heart was rising and her breathing quickened. She couldn't hear the leering Death Eaters or Voldemort's mocking tone. She could only feel as Harry squeezed her hand in reassurance before leaning down and whispering in her ear,

"I thought of you right before the curse hit me."

Her eyes widened and when she saw the green flash on the _Avada Kedavra_ curse she buried her face into Harry's chest not wanting to see him killed. Harry put his arms around her and comforted away the tears whispering nonsense into her ear; about how it was okay and he was okay.

She noticed a white flash through her eyelids and opened her eyes.

"Uh, oh right I didn't really think we would come here" he said embarrassedly.

"What, where are we?" she said trying to pull away and wipe her tears. Harry just held her tighter. "Harry what are you doing?"

"Em...just wait a minute. This is kinda limbo – in between life and death – I don't have any clothes on at the moment" he said blushing furiously.

She lifted her head and looked up into his reddening face. Smirking she said,

"I bet it would make me feel better."

Harry looked down at her his eyes widening, becoming even redder (he wondered how that was even possible).

"What? Ginny I mean...uh...no I...but I thought..." He spluttered.

"Calm down. I'm joking" she laughed.

"Oh, right" He said sounding a little upset. At this Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"Are you _disappointed_?" she said disbelievingly.

"No, no...It's not that...it's just well...a tiny bit" he said not meeting her gaze the flush returning to his cheeks.

They then heard a noise, a pitiful wailing and Ginny veered round to see what it was just as Harry's hand flew in front of her eyes. Just as she began to protest he removed his hand and Ginny noticed another Harry standing a few paces away now fully robed.

"You don't half contradict yourself Harry" she said cheekily, just as Dumbledore spoke,

"_You cannot help."_

"We can talk about that and us later", said Harry slightly annoyed, "Listen to Dumbledore what he says is important."

Ginny fell silent and together she and the two Harry's approached Dumbledore.

Ginny listened intently as Harry and Dumbledore talked about everything,

"I miss him" Harry whispered.

"Me too" said Ginny quietly.

All too soon for either of them the scene around them dissolved and they were back in the clearing in the forest.

"She lied for you?" Ginny asked Harry shocked that a Malfoy would do anything to help someone, even if it was for their own personal gain.

"Yeah, she's nowhere near as bad as her husband. And to be honest I think Malfoy got a bit roped in by Voldemort last year. It was his father's punishment for failing to get the prophecy. Voldemort probably thought that he'd die trying to kill Dumbledore because he pretty much intended for Snape to do it anyway."

Ginny said nothing as she watched Hagrid lift Harry and they followed him out of the forest. When they reached the front steps and everyone started spilling out onto the lawn Harry clenched. The grief, the sorrow, the shock on everyone's faces was too much to bear. Then he saw Ginny in the sea of people; Ron and Hermione behind her. Harry drew in a breath as he watched the anguish in her eyes. She raced forwards shoving her way through the crowd screaming,

"HARRY! HARRY NO! PLEASE! HARRY NO! HARRRRY!" Bill grabbed her as she broke to the front of the crowd. She began fighting him and trying to shove him off of her all the while screaming for Harry.

Harry had never heard that kind of pain in Ginny's voice before and suddenly, tears spilling from his eyes he turned to face the Ginny by his side. Without permission he wrapped his arms around her and sobbed into her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. I won't ever hurt you like that again, I promise. I don't ever want to see you hurt like that ever again. I'm sorry" he said as Neville severed Nagini's head.

"Shh...stop it's okay now" Ginny soothed.

Harry tugged her elbow and they made their way out of the pensieve through the swirling mist.


	4. Caught up in a moment

Dumbledore's office was lit by the moon streaming through the window; casting eerie shadows in the corners.

"I am really sorry," Harry began in barely a whisper, "About everything; breaking up with you last year, for not telling you everything that was happening, for underestimating your ability to cope with hearing what I had to do, for not saying goodbye, for letting you think I was dead, for Fred-,"

"That wasn't your fault," Ginny cut in, "Fred knew what he was getting himself into, we all did. We all knew what war meant; we could _die_," she said, the last word barely audible has her throat constricted and tears began rolling down her cheeks.

Harry started forwards and tried to rest his hand reassuringly on her arm, causing Ginny to turn away abruptly and hastily wipe her eyes on her sleeve.

"Don't" she said firmly, "I'm confused, I don't know how I feel right now," she explained.

"I-," Harry started only to be cut off again by Ginny.

"Part of me wants to hate you, but every time I look at you everything disappears and there's only you; and that's the part of me that _loves_ you even though I don't want to because I want to hate you for leaving me. And Fred's _dead_ and I'm exhausted and I can't think straight. I can't...I just...I don't know what to think!" she cried.

Harry had stood quietly during Ginny's rant watching her gradually lose steam. He didn't know what to say his own exhaustion clouding his brain. He turned Ginny to face him and she looked forcefully at her shoes refusing to meet his gaze. He lifted his hand to her chin and made Ginny look him in the eyes; the sadness there was almost unbearable to him.

"Don't think..." he told her gently, "Just feel."

Ginny looked into Harry's startlingly emerald eyes and lost herself. She reached up and pulled his face towards hers and kissed him tenderly. She pushed her body against his; Harry reacting keenly by running his fingers through her fiery mane his other hand wandering up and down her side coming to rest on her hip. Ginny groaned as Harry's tongue pushed at her lips demanding entrance to meet hers. She tangled her fingers in his unruly jet black hair as he pushed her against the wall as the kiss deepened further into oblivion. Ginny reached her hand under his T-shirt and ran her hand across his toned stomach; she reached for his belt buckle...

"Stop," Harry panted resting his forehead on Ginny's, "We can't; not now. Merlin I want to but not now."

"I know," Ginny breathed, "I couldn't help myself; I lost control."

"I know...Come on," he said taking her hand and leading her to the door of the office, "We should sleep, I haven't slept in almost two days" he said checking his watch and noticing how tired he was.

As soon as Harry mentioned the word 'sleep' Ginny let her body droop from emotional and physical exhaustion,

"Okayyy..." she yawned.

Harry led the way through the castle to the portrait of the fat lady who didn't ask for a password but simply swung open as she saw who was approaching. Harry gave a small smile in thanks and entered the common room with Ginny at his heels; just as Ron and Hermione descended the boys' staircase hand in hand.

***

Ron's sobs subsided,

"Sorry..." he muttered wiping his nose on his sleeve and sitting back from Hermione.

"It's okay...You have a right to mourn...We all do," she said reassuringly looking into his bright blue eyes with concern.

Ron nodded and got up from the bed,

"I'm going for a shower," he said, "But I don't have any clean clothes or anything," he sighed in afterthought.

"I can fix up the ones you're wearing while you're in the shower; I can clean them up and fix the holes and stuff." said Hermione thankful that she would have something to do to keep her mind occupied.

"Thanks Hermione; you really are amazing," Ron said as he leaned down and gave Hermione a small kiss on the forehead.

Ron walked over to the bathroom door grabbing a towel from the cupboard on the way. He shut the door over and began to undress; peeling his ruined clothing from his sore muscles. He turned on the shower and opened the bathroom door just enough to drop his clothes outside the door. He stepped into the shower letting the scalding spray soothe his aching body.

***

Hermione looked up as she heard a small thud; Ron's belt buckle had just hit the floor along with the rest of his clothes. Hermione stood and gathered them up and set them on the bed. She started with his underwear first; she help them up in front of her eyes; there was no holes in them.

"_Scourgify_," she muttered pointing her wand at them.

Hermione continued to examine Ron's clothing muttering as she went,

"_Scourgify,_" she removed the dirt and dust that had accumulated from the battle;

"_Reparo,_" she watched the holes knit themselves closed;

"_Terego,_" she siphoned off the_ blood_.

She folded them neatly and sat back down and sighed. She could still hear the water running in the bathroom. Ron was certainly taking his time.

She stood once more and gathered the tidy bundle and stepped into the bathroom. She set them on the counter next to the sink. She wiped her hand over the misted mirror and took in her appearance sighing as she preened herself with a furrowed brow; she didn't notice the water shut off. '_I really hope the cut along my jaw doesn't scar_' she thought tracing her finger along it.

"Hey gorgeous," Ron's voice startled Hermione and she jumped facing him.

Ron was leaning on one shoulder against the tiled wall, his arms folded across his chest, and a fluffy 'Gryfinndor red' towel wrapped around his waist. Hermione gaped at him for a moment; her knees going weak. His red hair was dripping into his eyes; '_Oh Fuck, I want him!,_' she thought.

"Sorry, I was just leaving your clothes in here for you-,"

"No, it's fine, don't worry about it," he shrugged while walking towards her.

"I'll just let you get ready and go for my shower," she squealed wobbling from the room.

She closed the door behind and quickly grabbed a towel from the cupboard and descended the stairs to another bathroom.

***

When Hermione returned to the seventh year boys' dormitory Ron was sitting in front of the window staring out at the destruction.

"Hi," Hermione said softly as she walked up behind him.

"Hey," he replied turning to face her.

Hermione looked at the floor, shifting nervously from foot to foot and biting her lip. Ron loved it that she done that when she was nervous or shy; it startled him a little that he knew that about her. When he actually thought about it he knew so much about her; she always blushed modestly when teachers praised her – which constantly gave her flushed cheeks as she was always getting praise because, quite frankly, she's a genius; The way her eyes flashed when she was angry – bloody hell what a turn on!

Ron pulled himself out of his thoughts to cuddle her,

"Thank you Hermione, thanks for being here with me through all of this shit."

"Don't be daft, I like spending time just us," Hermione replied a small smile playing on her lips.

"Willyoubemygirlfriend?" Ron asked uncertainly rubbing the back of his neck.

"What, sorry?" she asked.

"Hermione, will you be my g-girlfriend," he asked quietly

She smiled fully ready to answer, but before she could respond Ron started rambling,

"You don't have to say yes, I mean I won't hate you if you say no – you don't have to spare my feelings 'cause I could never hate you-,"

"Ron-,"

"Even though I was a royal prat in fourth year with the Yule ball thing and in third year with the whole 'you're cat killed my rat thing' – oh yeah and the whole Lavender thing; I didn't even like her-,"

"Ron-,"

"I mean I got mad when Ginny said you kissed Krum in fourth year and how I hadn't kissed anyone – anyway long story. I shouldn't have done anything like that to you, but hell you're gorgeous when you're angry – you're eyes get darker and all intense-,"

"Ron-,"

"I've wasted so much time. I've liked you for years. I didn't realise it till like fifth year, even with the Krum thing; but still. I've been a right prick to you at times. So it's cool; I get it that you don't love me back-,"

"RON!"

He stopped mid-monologue and looked at her startled.

"Yes," she said smiling.

"Yes, what?" he asked stupidly.

Hermione rolled her eyes,

"Yes, Ron I WILL be your girlfriend. I could never hate you either; I don't care about any of our stupid arguments; I never kissed Viktor. And I do love you back,"

Ron gaped at her,

"I love you Ron; always have, always will," she said looking deep into his eyes.

Ron grinned and scooped her into his arms and swung her around and she squealed.

Ron kissed her passionately as he set her down and they swayed on the spot for several minutes.

"I love you," Ron said breathlessly as he pulled away,

"I love you too," she said

Ron's stomach grumbling loudly caused him to smile sheepishly and Hermione to giggle,

"Come on; let's get some food; preferably not mushrooms," she said

Ron screwed up his face, "I don't think I'll ever be able to eat one ever again and I eat anything."

Hermione laughed,

"Come on," she said as she led him down the dormitory stairs and into the common room.

On the last step they saw Harry and Ginny stepping through the portrait hole.


	5. We all need each other

"Hey how are you?" Harry asked Ron sadly.

"'m alright...I'll get there," he sighed.

Harry walked forwards releasing Ginny's hand and hugged Ron tightly, thumping his back as Ron did the same.

"We should really be asking you that, Harry," said Ron as he released Harry.

"I'm fine, I suppose," shrugged Harry, "Okay, fine – I'm really sore and tired and hungry. And I feel like shit," he added after they looked at him sceptically.

"We're going to bed we haven't slept yet; Harry was telling me everything about this year," Ginny told Hermione before stepping over to Ron and slapping him hard across the arm.

"OW! What the bloody hell was that for?" He asked rubbing his arm.

"That was for leaving them while you were on the run!" she exclaimed while pointing to Harry and Hermione.

"But..." he began before Ginny stepped forward and engulfed him in a hug.

"And that was for saving Harry, going back to them and FINALLY kissing Hermione," said Ginny, "even though she technically made the first move."

Harry looked at his friends and smirked. Ron was grinning and Hermione was blushing.

"Well Hermione knows I'm an idiot and she still put up with me for seven years," said Ron smiling, taking her hand and pressing a soft kiss to her temple.

"Git," Hermione giggled as she playfully shoved him.

Harry yawned hard and Ginny said, "Well we're off to bed, tell mum so she doesn't worry."

She walked past Ron and Hermione, giving them a small joint cuddle on the way, and started up the dormitory stairs. Harry made to follow her, but Ron stopped him with a hand in his shoulder,

"If you hurt her ever again, I'll kill you. Friends or not," he said so no one but Harry would hear him.

Harry looked Ron in the eyes and said sincerely,

"I never will, I love her. Oh and same goes for you, mate," he said looking at Hermione.

Ron looked confused for a moment before Harry explained,

"She may not really be my sister, but she's as good as."

Ron looked at Harry's retreating back for a moment before leaning down to give Hermione a soft lingering kiss that he hoped would show her just how much he loved her.

"What was that for?" she asked looking lovingly into his eyes.

"Nothing," he shrugged, "let's go eat," he added leading her through the portrait hole.

***

Harry entered the Seventh year boys' dormitory and found Ginny passed out on his bed. He gently removed her shoes and drew the blankets up to her chin.

Harry sat on the edge of Seamus' bed and toed off his shoes and lay back on the pillows, falling asleep instantly.

***

Ron and Hermione walked hand in hand into the Great Hall; their hearts fell and tears quickly filled their eyes as they watched Andromeda Tonks stand above her daughter and son-in-law's bodies with tears running freely down her cheeks as she tried to shush baby Teddy, who was screaming; just like he knew what had happened to his Mummy and Daddy.

"Oh my God!" Ron exclaimed as he stumbled back to the door, his breathing unsteady. He had just noticed George being forcibly dragged off of Fred's covered body by Bill and Charlie. Hermione rushed over to him and lifted his hand to her cheek as she placed her other on his cheek,

"Look at me; breathe," she ordered softly.

Behind her George was yelling,

"Let me go! Fucking let me go! He can't be dead, he can't be! Fred stop being a fucking arse!"

He continued to yell as Bill and Charlie restrained him, comforting him,

"George he's gone,"

"I'm so sorry,"

"How could he leave me!?" George cried. He stopped fighting his restraints and let Bill and Charlie hold him.

"What am I going to do? What am I going to do..." he sobbed.

Molly stood in a trance but noticed Ron and Hermione in the doorway. She walked over to them; she would be able to fuss over them, keep her hands busy, and take her mind off of Fred... She stopped at a distance listening into their conversation.

"I can't stay in t-there, with all the...bodies...a-and Fred...I c-can't..." Ron struggled through his erratic breaths.

"I know it's hard. You'll get through this; we'll get through this," she searched his eyes, "together."

"I know, it's just...George," he said his breaths becoming steadier; "I mean I know how I feel about Fred. I can't even begin to understand how he must feel. Like a part of him has died; they are – I mean_ were_ like one person, but so different at the same time. And mum; they always say that losing a child is the worst thing to have to go through. I need to pull myself together. They're going to need me."

Hermione took her hand from his cheek and laced her fingers with his,

"Ron you need to grieve too, you can't push your feelings aside. It won't be good for you or them. We're going to need each other. We'll find a way to do this."

"I know 'Mione. I need you; I love you," he said leaning down to kiss her tenderly.

As he pulled away she said,

"I love you too. It'll get better we can do this – it'll take time,"

Hermione turned around after a few more words of encouragement and came nose to nose with Molly Weasley.

"Hey, Mum," said Ron sadly. Before he could do anything else Molly pulled him and Hermione into a bone crushing hug,

"I'm so happy that you two have finally told each other how you feel."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other as she released them. They were both thinking the same thing – how had she known that they'd liked each other.

"Oh don't look at each other like that. We all knew that you two liked each other for years, it was so obvious! Honestly Ron if it took you any longer to notice I would have had Ginny hex you," Molly said simply.

"Goodness, look at the two of you; skin and bone," she said looking them up and down; not giving them anytime to speak, "come on let's get you fed," she said, shoving them across the entrance hall to the chamber that faced the Great Hall.

Inside the room was like a miniature Great Hall with a few smaller tables laden with breakfast food.

Arthur was already sitting at the table with Percy. Arthur was simply moving his food around his plate as Percy stared into his mug of coffee. Hermione and Ron took seats across from them as Molly started piling their plates high with bacon and eggs. She filled their cups for them. When there was nothing left or her to do she asked,

"Where's Harry and Ginny?"

"Oh they've not long gone to bed. They stayed up through the night talking about what happened to us this year and why we had to do it. And no we're not going to tell you that's up to Harry," Ron said noticing that his mother was about to ask.

They sat in silence for a few moments; save the noises of Ron and Hermione's cutlery scraping across their plates.

"Well I'm going to see if there's anything needing done," Molly said standing and leaving the room.

As soon as the door closed behind her Arthur let out a sad sigh,

"She's going to wear herself down. I don't think she slept at all last night."

"There's nothing we can do just now. She's in denial Mr Weasley. We need to leave her be just now and be willing to help her when she's ready," said Hermione wisely.

"I wish I was in denial," said Arthur tears filling his eyes, "then maybe I wouldn't feel like this. One of my babies died," he said his tears now falling thick and fast.

Percy continued to examine his coffee his tears dripping off the end of his nose splashing into his mug.

Ron dropped his fork and let out a strangled cough as the lump in his throat formed and his eyes burned.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Hermione said tears evident in her voice. She reached across the table and squeezed Arthur's hand comfortingly and Ron gripped tightly to her other.

"He was great. He and George were always driving me crazy though; remember the time they were testing out the skiving snackboxes on the first years? They only stopped when I threatened to tell Mrs Weasley," Hermione said as they all smiled sadly.

"They were so brilliant together, they were so incredibly smart. I have all of their products. I owl ordered them all under a different name so they didn't send them to me cursed; which they probably would have considering how much of a prat I've been. I'm so sorry that I left. I missed everyone so much," Percy said speaking for the first time,

"I mean I've always been one to follow authority and rules to the letter; that's why I sided with the Ministry at first. By the time I knew my mistake I was in too deep and had alienated myself from you all. I didn't know what to do, I felt trapped."

"It's okay Perce, we forgive you. Everyone makes mistakes," said Ron.

"Thank you," he said thickly as Arthur slung his arm around his shoulder and gave him a squeeze.

"We're all going to need each other," said Arthur as Bill Charlie and Percy entered the room. They seated themselves next to Arthur,

"Mum's with George in Gryffindor tower," Bill said.

"Dad can I move back in for a while? I don't want to go back to Romania," Charlie asked.

"Of course you can. You're always welcome. Your mum will be pleased," Arthur replied with a small smile.

"I didn't realise how much I'd missed. I missed everyone growing up, especially Ron and Ginny. Family's the most important. I don't want to miss anything ever again," he said.

Everyone sat in a mournful silence, appreciating that they still had each other.

**A/N: Hey hope you're enjoying the story so far I will try to keep it updated as quick as possible. Thanks please review!!**


	6. Doubt

Harry didn't know how long he had been sleeping but was startled awake when Ginny started yelling and whimpering in her sleep.

He darted off of Seamus' bed and sat on the edge of his own and gently shook Ginny's shoulders,

"Ginny? Ginny wake up."

Her eyes flew open and she saw Harry looking at her his face full of concern. She cried and threw her arms around his neck. She buried her face in his shoulder,

"Oh Harry. I dreamed that you were dead, you wouldn't wake up," she wept.

"It's okay, I'm okay. Nothing will happen to me, I promise," he said soothingly while rubbing her back.

"Don't leave me," she whispered, her soft breath tickling his neck.

"Never," he said pulling her away and softly kissing the tear tracks on her cheeks.

Ginny moved over to give him space to lie down beside her.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked softly.

She nodded, "I just want you to hold me. It makes me feel safe," she pleaded looking at him through her teary eyelashes.

"Okay," he said pulling the hangings closed to block out the morning sun and laying down.

He pulled her close, she rested her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. He ran his fingers through her hair and down her back until she fell back asleep and his eyes soon closed too.

***

Mrs Weasley sat in front of the Gryffindor common room fire holding George as he cried for Fred on her shoulder.

There was nothing she could say. She couldn't comfort him; because no one could comfort her. One of her children had died. She couldn't get her head around the fact that he wouldn't be there anymore: sitting at the table for breakfast or dinner; he wouldn't be laughing or joking with his brothers; teasing his sister; teaming up with George to prank his siblings. She refused to accept that.

"Come on George, honey," she said comfortingly, "You go upstairs and you can try and get some sleep."

He continued sobbing and began walking up the dormitory stairs while his mother watched him go. She felt so lost; she really didn't know how to help him.

Molly sank back down onto the sofa and put her face in her hands her lip beginning to tremble.

***

George was climbing the stairs when he suddenly stood outside his old dorm door; the plaque on the door now read 'First Years'. He traced his finger down the worn wood. His sobs becoming more painful; he noticed the scorch marks near the bottom from when he and Fred caused one of their 'experiments' to explode. That was one of his favourite memories from first year.

_They got bored and decided to play around with their potions kit; all they had managed to make was purple sludge – well until they added the fish scales anyway. All of a sudden there was a huge explosion and the entire tower shook. When Percy had rushed in the look on his face was priceless. He and Fred had just looked at each other and burst out laughing; they'd both singed their hair black and they were missing their eyebrows. The dorm room was also a disaster: the floor around the cauldron was scorched (as was the door and the wooden bedposts nearby) and the ceiling was covered in bright pink slime. _

They'd got into so much trouble and Mrs Weasley had sent them a howler. He was going to miss causing mischief with his brother. His life would never be the same. It sucked.

George slumped against the door and tears fell from his eyes – they would never stop; he would always cry for Fred.

After George wracking sobs calmed he stood and placed his hand on the door again,

"I'll miss you bro," he whispered.

He started up the stairs again coming to the top floor and opened the door. He saw the hangings drawn around Harry's bed,

'_Good'_ he thought, _'I really don't want to talk'_

He slumped over to an empty bed and threw the hangings closed, shutting everyone out. That's exactly what he wanted – to shut out the world and wallow in his grief; and no one was going to stop him.

***

"Wanna go for a walk?" Ron whispered to Hermione.

Hermione nodded and they quietly excused themselves from the rest of their company. Not that they were listening.

They made their way across the grounds walking in companionable silence. Ron couldn't breathe; the air was thick with grief and he couldn't escape it. It pushed down on his chest causing him to feel light-headed.

They began walking around the lake before Ron took Hermione's hand. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"What are we supposed to do now?" she sighed.

Ron had never been more stumped in his life, Hermione always had the answers.

"I have no idea – I was hoping you would know."

She sat, tugging Ron with her and looked over the vast calm water.

"I was sure I was going to die in this war, after all I am a _Mudblood_," she scoffed – immediately continuing when Ron opened his mouth indignantly, "I never thought about what would happen after. This doesn't seem real, you know?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. I can't believe Fred's gone 'Mione," he said his voice becoming heavy.

In a last ditch attempt to stop his tears from falling he grabbed Hermione tightly and crashed his mouth to hers. He sucked her bottom lip and forced his tongue in her mouth,

"Ron-_kiss_-we-_kiss_ -don't-_kiss_-Ron-_kiss_- STOP," Hermione said.

Ron pulled away and ran his hand across his face, catching the tears that were falling,

"Sorry..." he mumbled from behind his hand.

"It's okay. I love you, but Ron, you can't use me to forget. We have a lot to talk about; we need to talk more about us, okay?"

"Mione..." he began before getting interrupted by a patronus in the form of a weasel,

"George is gone!" Mrs Weasley's panicked voice rang out before the patronus evaporated. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances and ran back to the castle; at the same time Mr Weasley, Bill, Charlie and Percy started up the marble staircase to Gryfinndor common room having just received a patronus themselves.

***

George tossed and turned on the four-poster bed. '_This is stupid'_ he thought. He felt trapped inside his head. He wanted to forget and he wanted to be alone. He really didn't see that being an easy task as no doubt everyone would be heading back to the Burrow that evening.

He let out a long sigh... '_I need a drink_'.

He didn't know where to go. He definitely didn't want to go back to his flat...all of Fred's things were still there,

'_But so is my stash of Blacklabel Firewhiskey_'

Coming to a decision, he apparated outside his flat. He raised his wand and summoned his Firewhiskey which came zooming out of the high window. He then went to the Leaky Cauldron, finding a party in full swing. Really not something he wanted to deal with. He didn't bother to find Tom the landlord to pay for a private room, he just went and found one – he wouldn't care, if he was still alive he'd be too happy to worry about room payments.

He found a particularly gloomy room at the end of the corridor and locked the door behind himself with a soft _click._

The room was lit with a dull oil lamp in the corner and a small fire in the grate. He threw himself into the armchair that gave a perfect view of the flames. He cracked open the lid on his first of four bottles,

"To Fred!" he declared glumly pouring the liquid down his eagerly awaiting throat.

***

Ginny sighed and stretched. Opening her eyes she saw Harry lying beside her peacefully with his arm around her waist. She slipped out from under his arm and made her way for a shower.

The hot spray felt wonderful on her body but it did nothing to soothe her mind. Her head was buzzing and she soon felt hot tears escaping her eyes and mingling with the water. She thought about everything; from Fred, to Tonks and Lupin, to Colin – especially Harry. Harry confused her most of all. She knew how she felt about everyone else – gut-wrenching sadness; but Harry? She just had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach – life was going to be different now. She didn't know what direction to take her life in – now she had _options_.

She turned off the shower and quickly cleaned up her clothes. She walked back into the dorm and found Harry awake, eating sandwiches off of a large plate.

"'Iya," he said around a large mouthful.

"Hi, where did you get the food?" she asked, automatically helping herself.

"Oh, Kreacher brought it. I called him when I woke up."

Ginny nodded. They sat in silence and it felt – awkward. Ginny kept avoiding Harry's eyes and shovelling in more sandwiches before he could interrupt her long enough to ask a question.

"Well, erm, I'm just gonna go and get cleaned up..." Harry said getting up.

"'Kay, I'm going to go and see mum, I'll see you later," she said making her way towards the door.

Harry huffed as the door closed behind her. She was being distant – so what the hell had changed? Last night everything seemed to be getting back on track and now she was acting like she couldn't stand to be near him. What the actual fuck can a twenty minute shower do to a girl to get her to change her attitude so suddenly? He sulked off towards the bathroom, all the while coming up with a plan to corner her later.

***

Ginny walked into the common room to be met by the sight of her mother slumped over on the sofa, obviously having just fallen asleep. She stirred as Ginny made her way to sit on the armchair beside her.

"Oh - _yawn_ - hello, dear. How are you? Do you need anything?" she asked in a rush.

"No-no mum I'm fine," she smiled weakly.

"Oh, Okay," she sighed, "Is George asleep?"

"I dunno, he wasn't there when me and Harry woke up. Why?"

"I sent him up to get some sleep! Where is he?"

"I dunno, probably in another dorm or something..." Ginny trailed off as her mother started on the stairs.

She heard her walking up every flight before throwing the door open, followed by a shout of, 'George?' and then the door being slammed again. She heard this seven times before a thunder of footsteps and her mother's reappearance at the foot of the stairs.

"He's gone, Ginny!" she screamed before raising her wand and sending her patronus of to the rest of the family...

**A/N: Hey sorry it took so long to update...uni has been crazy!**

**I hope your enjoying the story so far or whatever lol! I'll try and make the next chapter update faster...this was a really hard chapter to write coz I really just wanna get them home to the burrow lol...next time!**

**please please review it makes me wanna write more if I know if people are enjoying it thanks ly!**


	7. Home

"Calm down, Mum!" Ginny exclaimed as her mother frantically wrung her hands.

"Ginny, don't tell me to calm down! George is missing!" she yelled back as she began pacing around the common room.

"Seriously Mum, he can't have got that far...we'll find him," Ginny promised, "Where did you send that patronus?" She asked growing dizzy watching her mother weaving through the collection of armchairs that occupied the common room.

"To your Dad, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ron and Hermione," she counted off, "Why?"

"Um...couldn't you have just sent one to George asking him where he is?" Ginny asked quietly.

Mrs Weasley stopped and sank weakly into a thread bare armchair in front of the fire,

"Oh for Godric's sake - I never even thought of that..."

Ginny perched on the sofa next to her Mum. Molly began to raise her wand to send a patronus to George – just as her Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ron and Hermione burst through the portrait hole.

"Molly what's going on...?" Mr Weasley asked worriedly,

"Mum what do you mean George is missing?" Bill asked a crease across his brow,

"Where was he last?" Charlie asked,

"We'll go look" Ron and Hermione said together,

"Where – ow – he – can't – ow – breathe," Percy wheezed as he clutched the stitch in his side, "So – unfit – pass – out."

Everyone stopped ambushing Mrs Weasley with questions to turn and stare at Percy – whose face was steadily turning fuchsia.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Ron asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Water – water – help – breathe – can't - ow," he gasped.

Bill and Charlie grabbed Percy under the arms and led him to a chair,

"Jesus bro, you seriously need to work out," Bill said as Charlie conjured a glass and filled it with a swift _Aguamenti._

Percy hastily gulped the glass and ran the back of his hand across his lips,

"Sorry _Bill_, it's not exactly on the top of my priority list," he spat glaring at his big brother.

"Oh shut up you two!" Ron said, turning back to his mother – earning surprised looks from his brothers, "Mum, what's going on?"

Everyone was silently watching Mrs Weasley waiting for her to respond, "I don't know where George is. I sent him up to bed a little while ago and then Ginny came downstairs and said she hadn't seen him and he wasn't in bed. So I panicked and I still don't know where he is, we need to find him." she said

"She was just going to send a patronus to George to ask him where he was, then you lot came bursting through the portrait hole," Ginny added.

Mrs Weasley raised her wand and sent her patronus away, as everyone else took seats around the fire to wait. Mrs Weasley looked around, wishing that Fred was still alive – he would have made the death of Voldemort a celebration. Now she couldn't decide when she felt worse – when Voldemort was around and Ron was on the run with Hermione and Harry (basically her other adopted children) or now when Fred was dead and grief ate at her heart.

'_At least when they were on the run there was hope – there's no hope left for the dead_', she thought.

***

"_Cauldron full of hot strong glove_ – no that's no' right-t," George slurred.

He lifted his bottle of Blacklabel Firewhiskey in front of his unfocused eyes.

"OH! All F-fi-inish-shed," he slurred throwing it into the fire – causing the dying embers to spark back to life.

George had completely necked his first bottle – which was now sitting amongst the dancing flames. He was ready for another,

'_Just keep it coming'_ he thought as his mother's patronus appeared in front of him,

"George, where did you go? You've got everyone worried!"

"Oh for God's sake!" he exclaimed lifting his wand.

'_There no need to worry_' he thought as he sent away his patronus.

***

"Bill, sweetheart, where's Fleur?" Molly asked her son.

"Oh, she went to St. Mungo's with Madam Pomfrey to help out. There – there was a lot of casualties," he said quietly.

"Oh, alright dear," she replied absently, staring at the floor.

She couldn't really be bothered to listen – or do anything. She was ready to go to bed and sleep for weeks – she hadn't slept, at least, since the night before Bill's wedding. She longed for night's that weren't plagued with nightmare's about her children being murdered by Death Eaters – that was when she realised, she was living her nightmare right that very moment. Death Eaters had caused the death of Fred – all she knew was that the reality was so much worse than any nightmare – this was something so couldn't wake up from. Molly was roused from her thoughts as Harry made his way down the stairs.

Harry walked right up to Mrs Weasley and everyone's eyes followed him. He looked straight into her eyes and his heart ached and fresh tears stung his startlingly green eyes.

"Mrs Weasley I – I'm so sorry...I should've – _Fred _didn't have to – no one did – I'm sorry – If I'd done something sooner –," he stuttered past the lump in his throat.

"Don't you dare Harry!" Molly chided, "Don't you dare do that to yourself. You've always blamed yourself for things that were out of your hands-,"

"But–,"

"No buts, Harry. Mum's right, you can't do this to yourself," Bill interjected.

Mr Weasley stood and put his hand on Harry's shoulder, "You saved us, son. We should be thanking you; you sav-."

"No," he said shrugging off Mr Weasley's hand, "I don't want any credit. I didn't do this alone," he said turning away, "_Damn it_! I don't want to be the bloody hero! I don't deserve it. Everyone that got hurt or – or _died_ they're the real hero's. I just – I don't want the attention!" he yelled.

Harry chanced a glance at Ginny – she was determinedly not looking at him, her eyes were filled with unshed tears and she was biting her lip.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout. It's just so - ."

Harry was cut off when George's patronus appeared in the middle of the room, "I'm fi-ine. I'm-m at the _Leaky Cauldron_. I w-want-t to be left-t alone," it slurred before it evaporated.

"Uh – I think George has been drinking," Charlie said stupidly.

"Bill, Charlie, can you two please go and get him and bring him back to the Burrow. That's where we are all headed anyway. We need to get home," Mr Weasley instructed.

They nodded and kissed their mother on the cheek and gave their father a hug; and disapparated to get George

"Okay everyone let's get going," Mrs Weasley said – noticing Harry and Hermione giving each other a quick glance, "Hermione you can share with Ginny, Harry you with Ron - ."

"Oh no Mrs Weasley – we don't want to impose -," Hermione said hurriedly.

"Don't be ridiculous. You're staying with us and that's that. Let's go. Someone will need to side along Ginny -."

"I'll do it," Harry said quickly giving Ginny a significant look.

"Okay then let's go home," Mr Weasley said, "We'll need to come and collect Fred tomorrow," he whispered to Percy who nodded.

Harry stepped up to Ginny and offered his hand to her. She looked at his hand and gently took it. Harry quickly pulled her to her feet and in her surprise she looked into his eyes. Her breath hitched as she looked into those green orbs – all too soon she was enveloped into the dark compression.

**A/N: I'm not completely happy with this chapter but I think it serves its purpose.**

**Hope to update soon x**


	8. Get out of my face!

Harry caught a glimpse of the Burrow before a flash went off in his eyes

"Mr Potter – how does it feel to have finally defeated You-know-who!?"

'_Oh fucking marvellous',_ he thought bitterly as he saw the horde of reporters standing in front of him.

"Mr Weasley – How did you assist Mr Potter while you we're on the run?"

"Mr Potter – What is your say on Death Eater punishment?"

"Miss Granger – is it true that you and Mr Weasley are secretly married?"

"Mrs Weasley – is it true that you're the one that finally struck down Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"Mr Potter – Are you considering taking the post of the Minister now that the war is over?"

"Miss Weasley – is it true that you are carrying Mr Potter's child?"

"Mr Potter - where did you go on the run this past year?"

"Mr Potter – what are your feelings towards all of the lives lost in the war?"

Mr and Mrs Weasley moved hurriedly through the garden gate: Ron tugged Hermione through and Harry followed pulling Ginny with him and slammed it behind them – but not before turning around to the reporters and yelling,

"NO FUCKING COMMENT – LEAVE!! LEAVE EVERYONE THE FUCK ALONE YOU RUTHLESS FUCKING VULTURES!!"

At his sides Mr and Mrs Weasley; Ron and Hermione already had their wands out putting wards around the Burrow.

"Mr and Mrs Weasley, I'm sorry. Its fine, I'll go. Then maybe you can get some peace. I'm sorry about the reporters," Harry said earnestly.

Mrs Weasley dropped her wand to her side and turned to Harry,

"Don't be ridiculous. You can hardly go back to live with your, uh, _relatives_," she said, her eyes narrowing in obvious distaste for the Dursley's, "Harry and I'm hardly expecting you attempt to find a house – you're only seventeen; you're too young to be living on your own. You'll be around people that care about you and I daresay that's what you need right now. That's what we all need right now. And Harry, they were pestering all of us too – so I don't think that you leaving would help get rid of them," she told him firmly.

Harry nodded and sighed, "Fine."

Tears began to prick at his eyes – it felt good to have someone like a mother figure in his life. It was exactly what he needed. She was right. He had never had that before and he liked it.

He couldn't help but doubt it though. He couldn't feel it was his right to let Mrs Weasley treat him like a son – she'd just lost one and didn't want to be some twisted form of a substitute.

Hermione swept her wand in an arc high above her and over to the other garden wall. The noise of the reporters disappeared – they could no longer be seen either,

"That ought to do it," she said, with a little self satisfied smirk, "They can't see in and we don't have to put up with looking at them or listening to them either."

"Where does the boundary stop?" Ginny asked.

"I put it until after the patch of trees and the pond – so it's safe to go there. Why?" Hermione replied.

"'Cause I want to go for a walk and wanted to know where I could go without getting bombarded with ridiculous questions," she said beginning to walk away, as Mr and Mrs Weasley went into the house.

Harry watched her go muttering under her breath, "Pregnant – _pfft_ – stupid fuckers – he's been gone ten months – fucking _morons_..."

He let her walk away while having an internal argument with himself...

'_I should talk to her now' – 'But I think she really wants to be alone right now' – 'Yeah but I need to know what's going on in her head' – 'She'll probably hex me; she did look pretty pissed..._'

Ron broke into his thoughts with,

"You alright? You look like you're going to puke or something."

"Yeah – I'm fine," Harry replied absently.

"Stop bullshitting me – You've said 'fine' so many times it doesn't even sound like a word anymore," Ron countered, "You can tell us, we're you're best friends."

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione – then looked at Ginny in the distance making her way through the trees. He huffed,

"It's about Ginny."

Ron crinkled his nose in disgust, "I dunno if I want to hear this."

Hermione glared at him and slapped him across his arm, _hard_,

"Ow! What is it with people hitting me?" he said scowling at her.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him before turning her attention back to Harry; who had a small smile dancing in the light of his eyes – but it didn't quite make it to the rest of his features, and it burnt out all too quickly,

"What's wrong? Everything seemed okay before you two went to bed."

"It was!" Harry exclaimed running his hand over his face, "Everything was fine until...well promise not to tell Ginny I told you? Please, she'll hex me to Azkaban and back," he pleaded.

Ron did not look impressed,

"What did you do?" he asked an eyebrow raised in question.

"Nothing! I didn't do anything, we were sleeping and she woke me up because she was having a nightmare – so I kind of patted her on the back a bit. Then we slept together -,"

"YOU WHAT!?" Ron growled, taking a step towards Harry.

Realising what he said Harry's eyes grew round and he hastily corrected himself,

"NO! I meant I slept _beside_ her! She was still upset about the nightmare and she didn't want me to leave – she asked me to," he said hands put up in surrender.

Ron stepped back again and awkwardly shrugged and nodded. Hermione motioned for Harry to continue,

"Uh – well anyway – when I woke up she was in a shower and when she came back into the room...I dunno...it was just, _weird_."

"Weird?" Hermione questioned looking thoughtful, "What do you mean weird?"

"It was like awkward, I suppose. She wouldn't look me in the eyes and didn't exactly speak to me."

"Maybe you should go talk to her?" Ron ventured.

Hermione gave Ron a sarcastic look that clearly read, '_Well done, you ass-tard_'

"What? Don't look at me like that!" Ron defended.

"Don't you think Harry could have worked that much out for himself?" Hermione said folding her arms.

"What else was I supposed to say?" Ron said matching her stance.

'_Oh for FUCK SAKE,' _Harry rolled his eyes, '_Here we bloody go_.'

Ron and Hermione continued to bicker and Harry yelled over them,

"Uh, thanks! I'll just leave you to it then?" they continued to ignore him, "Brilliant, see you later," Harry began to follow Ginny's path to the trees, similarly muttering to himself,

"Bloody hell – never stop fucking arguing – didn't even help me – think they would have stopped bloody fighting by now – drive me in-fucking-sane..."

***

Hermione threw her hands up and growled in frustration,

"You're so annoying!"

"Yeah, well so are you!" Ron bit back at her.

"Well done. Come up with that all on your own did you?"

"Stop being a pain in the arse!"

"Urrggh! You're such a prick!"

They looked at each other in silence. Hermione was trembling with suppressed rage and Ron's chest was heaving with the deep breaths he was taking, attempting to calm his temper.

"How is this ever going to work!? We're not even together a day and we're already fighting!" Hermione huffed through the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"It's what we do! We fight! You're not afraid to tell me that I'm being a prick and I'm not afraid to tell you when you're being a pain in the arse – which you are most of the time – but I don't care. I love you and that's not going to change."

Hermione let her tears fall as she shook her head in disbelief,

"H-how do you do that? One minute you're immature and arguing with me about something stupid and then you say something like that! You totally confuse me!"

Ron grabbed her close and whispered in her ear, his soft breath sending chills down her spine, "I'm glad that I've finally stumped the know-it-all."

"Prick," she whispered half-heartedly.

"And you love it," he said his lips inches from hers.

Ron captured her lips with his and Hermione responded with fervour – there really was nothing better than kissing someone after a fight...

**A/N: Next up... find out what's going on with Ginny...**

**Thanks for Reading...please review :) **


	9. Apologies

Harry walked through the small wood that separated the Burrow's garden from the pond. He stopped at the edge of the clearing and watched as Ginny furiously skimmed stones across the water's surface. He walked forwards cautiously – but made a point of stepping on a few twigs so that Ginny was aware of his presence. She didn't turn around.

"So...um – you're good at that – the skimming I mean," Harry said as he watched her latest pebble bounce five times before finally sinking into the murky water, "...I've never been able to do it."

Ginny tensed and dropped the stone she had just picked off of the ground,

"Fred – taught me," she choked,

"Oh G-god!" she sobbed sinking to her knees with her head in her hands.

Harry rushed forwards and scooped her into his arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." he whispered into her hair.

"No, no! Stop saying you're sorry!" she demanded thickly through her tears,

"Fucking hell, I'm sorry. Ugh! I'm such a mess, I'm sorry."

She sat back on her heels and looked at Harry. She stared deeply into his eyes – they were soft, but underneath, she could see just how exhausted and discouraged he looked. At that moment she'd never felt more like an inconsiderate bitch – she'd been so wrapped up in her own head she hadn't even spared a thought on how Harry.

"Oh fuck, I'm such a bitch," she breathed - Harry looked at her bemused.

"No, you're not..." he said uncertainly, wondering what the hell she was on about, '_Maybe now she'll tell me what's going on in her head_.'

Her tears were still flowing as she started rambling, "Yes, yes I am. I'm being all bitchy; I haven't even asked how you are. How are you? That's such a stupid question, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm so selfish, and after everything – everything you've been through – and I know what you've been through – you bloody well showed me. I'm sorry..."

"Stop saying you're sorry," Harry chided gently; Ginny made a noise halfway between a sob and a laugh, "Why are you sorry anyway? You haven't done anything – except maybe act a bit weird and distant; but I guess it's just about...Fred, right?" he asked tentatively, "Tell me."

Harry crossed his legs, sat his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his linked fingers. Ginny sighed and shifted herself into a more comfortable position resting on her hip with her arm leaning out behind her. She swiped her other hand over her cheeks and sighed,

"Well, yeah. But..." she hesitated. Harry's eyes widened and his brows drew up and together in encouragement for her to continue. Ginny opened and closed her mouth a few times trying to find the words, "But I – no you – and I mean – gah! Why aren't you crazy!?" she blurted.

"Um...what?"

"Why haven't you gone crazy yet? Why aren't you shouting and punching things? Why aren't you mad? It's in your eyes – not the crazy – in your eyes you look so tired and...broken. I guess I'm just waiting for you to clam up or get angry, or something. I can't believe that this calmness you have is going to last. You've always gotten angry. Especially because of how you were when Sirius died."

Harry's jaw tensed and he breathed deeply through his nose. Ginny cried harder. She sat up on her knees again and shuffled forwards until she was mere inches from his face. He wouldn't meet her eyes and Ginny grabbed his face in her hands. Her lips were trembling as she continued,

"And Harry, I can't bear to see you like that. I'm not strong enough to carry you and me through this – maybe I used to be but after the year I had – I just can't fight anymore. That's why I'm a bitch, Harry," Harry's eyes were filled with tears as he finally met hers,

"I'm being selfish, because I can't do it – having the cruciatus done on you for detention takes the fight out of you. You deserve a fighter – someone strong and that's not me anymore – everything's different. After everything you've been through you deserve better – someone who's not a bitch and can help you and be there for you – like you should have. And I'm sorry that person isn't me and I really wish it was – but I can't cope anymore and I'm sorry."

Ginny started to get up and began to release her hold on Harry's face, but he grabbed her wrists. He gave her an intense look as the tears fell from his eyes,

"Don't – you can't just say all of that and walk away. You are a fighter. If you had really let what those _fucking bastards_ did to you affect you – you wouldn't have fought like you did in that battle. You wouldn't have charged into the room of requirement and demanded that your parents let you fight – you wouldn't have taken on Bellatrix Lestrange if you'd given up. And you're not a bitch so stop fucking saying it. You're amazing and I know you feel helpless just now. I'm not getting mad because I'm tired – I can't fight anymore. My whole life has been about fighting and I've had enough. I don't know what's going to happen now, all I know is that I can't do it without you. I've lost so many people and I don't want to lose you. Neither of us wants to fight anymore; but I'll still fight for you – I'll always fight for you – because I _know_ I want you, I _know_ I _need_ you."

They were both crying in earnest as Harry released his hold on her wrists and threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her towards him. Ginny threw her arms around his neck and pulled him up to her lips. Their kiss was desperate with need. It wasn't gentle or tender – it was passionate. They kissed with fervour as sobs and whimpers escaped their lips.

"Please Ginny I can't live without you..." Harry breathed between kisses.

"I don't want to live without you..." Ginny whimpered as Harry began to kiss her neck...

**A/N: Hey guys I hope everyone's enjoying the story.**

**Hope you had a nice Christmas**

**Review please ly xoxo**


	10. Don't tell Mum

Walking back to the house, Harry and Ginny noticed Bill and Charlie helping George walk up the path to the back door.

"Oh my God! Look at the state of him!" Ginny exclaimed as she and Harry watched George heave and throw up all over Bill's shoes.

They quickened their pace and came up behind them just as they were getting through the door – George threw up again on the doormat.

"Ew..._Scourgify_!" Ginny said, pointing her wand first at Bills shoes then, the mat and cleaning up the vomit.

"Thanks Gin, I won't tell Mum you did magic," Bill said over his shoulder.

Bill and Charlie guided George through the Kitchen – with Harry and Ginny following - and into the living room and deposited him on the sofa.

"I don't think we should let Mum see him like this," Charlie said, "It'd just upset her more."

"Well if you don't want her to see you better move him from there, take him up to his room," Ginny said

"Nooo-nooo," George moaned, "P-plese, dunt wanna go – in there."

At that moment Ron and Hermione came downstairs and into the living room, causing everyone in the room – except George – to start.

"Bloody hell - I thought you were Mum. Where is she?" Bill said.

"Upstairs – she and Dad are in their room. I went up to see if she wanted any help for anything or something, but Dad told us to give her a minute and she'd come back downstairs when she was ready. She's bawling – she noticed the clock when she came into the house – Fred's hand – it's, well – it set her off..." Ron trailed off.

A morbid silence enveloped the room. George had tears running down his face,

"Y-you can say-ay it. His hand iss on _dead_ b-because he's DEAD! He's dead! He's dead! Dead! Dead! Dead!"

Ginny sat beside him on the couch and cradled his head against her as he soaked her clothes with his tears,

"It'll be okay, it'll be okay..."she murmured in his ear.

Everyone had tears in their eyes but Bill couldn't stop his from falling; watching his little brother in this much pain was killing him. They were broken out of their reverie when they heard the back door open and Percy call out,

"Hello?"

"In here!" Bill called swiping at his cheeks furiously.

Percy wandered into the living room with a small holdall in his hand,

"I just went home to get some clothes – I thought I'd stay for a while."

A floorboard creaked, indicating movement upstairs. Mr and Mrs Weasley were on their way back downstairs upon hearing Percy's arrival.

"Shit...," Charlie breathed.

Ron snapped into action giving orders to his siblings to ensure Mrs Weasley wasn't upset further by the mess George had made of himself,

"Percy, go and put the kettle on and make a pot of tea, Ginny, go with him, make them sit in the kitchen, stall them, Charlie, Bill get a hold of George," George heaved upon hearing his name, but didn't vomit, "Hmm, and a bucket I think. I'm going to go and have a look in the remedy cupboard and see if there is anything that will help him get out of this state – everything's probably out of date now thought, so it'll probably just be some water."

Everyone stared at Ron as if a second head had sprouted out of his shoulders. Ron had always been pushed around by his siblings, so it was unusual for him to be suddenly taking charge. It made them realise that he had really grown up, and that a year on the run had changed him.

"I mean NOW," he said firmly with an undertone of exasperation.

"What will we do?" Hermione asked indicating herself and Harry as the Weasley brood followed their orders.

"Lookouts," Ron said as he helped his brothers hoist George to his unsteady feet. George stumbled out of his brothers' grasps and knocked an ornament off of the end table; Harry caught it with his speedy seeker reflexes before it hit the floor, "and damage control," Ron added.

Arthur tried his best to console his broken wife, but what significance would his words of comfort have at this time, he thought. How could he console his 'Mollywobbles' when he was using all of his strength available just trying to stay standing; just trying to keep breathing? He took a shuddering breath, trying to hold in the onslaught of tears that would inevitably come – '_not now, I have to be strong for my family_, _for the family that I still have_'.

Molly removed her face from the front of Arthurs jumper and tried her best to speak, "A-Arthur, I don't know if I can be here, there are far too many mem-ories. How do I k-know tha-t I won't always be h-aun-ted by _Fred,_" her final word was barely even a whisper; she met Arthurs eyes and saw confusion, "I mean what if I can never – never get on with life in this house when everything I see reminds me of him. Will I ever get over seeing clock hand on dead? How can I knit the Christmas jumpers and they'll all look different? There won't be two the same anymore."

Arthur took a deep breath and thought about what to say to his hopeless wife, but it came to him and he knew it would give her some optimism, however slight, "I remember you saying something similar to me when your brothers died Molly. No, they might not have had a hand on the clock on the mantle, but you had your memories of them from when you were growing up and seeing the children playing together reminded you terribly of what you done together when you were children and the awful pranks they played on you; and you saw every bit of yourself in Ginny when she was born and was then big enough to stand up to her brothers just like you had done – I know that was hard, but by the time that had come around, you could look at it as a fond memory. The day will come. We will never miss him any less, but the hurt will heal. We still have some pretty amazing kids around us Molly, and we have a lot to look forward to with them. There will be more weddings, and grandchildren, possibly even great-grandchildren if they get the show on the road. We will never forget Fred and work at making sure he is never forgotten, but he wouldn't be happy if we stopped living our lives."

They sat in silence as Molly absorbed her husband's words, she knew he was right. The problem was that Molly was not a patient woman by any means, she wanted to feel better immediately, she wanted more weddings to plan as soon as possible, she wanted grandchildren; she wanted it all now because she wanted to be past the stage of feeling like there was no point in anything. She heard Percy's yell from downstairs and it roused her from her musings.

Molly stood tall and out of Arthur's arms and wiped her eyes, "You're right, and it's not going to get any better if I don't wise up and help this family to that point. Arthur, there will be great-grandchildren if I've got anything to do with it," and with that she kissed her husband on the cheek; smoothed out her hair and started off downstairs.

**A/N:**

**Hi...please don't kill me :(**

**I honestly don't know how long it will be until I manage an update again and I'm really, really sorry this one has pretty much taken almost a year. But I appreciate it and love it if you have added this story to your list. I try, I just seriously underestimated my uni course, thought it would be a breeze but it isn't lol! on the plus side I passed my first year! yey me! lol**

**Oh and btw I noticed that I haven't put a disclaimer on any of my chapters yet...but is it just me that thinks it's painfully obvious that I'm not JK Rowling?**

**Anyway constructive criticism welcome as well as comments if you liked it and what you liked/didn't like. Just please no RAGEY comments about how long it took, I know and I'm sorry!**

**ly xoxo**


	11. Subtlety thy name is Weasley

Mr and Mrs Weasley slowly made their way downstairs, chattering about her "plans" to enforce her children to breed,

"Molly, you're not going to start _forcing_ them into arranged marriages and such just so you can have grandchildren?" Mr Weasley asked slightly alarmed at the prospect.

"Come now, Arthur, don't be ridiculous. We already have one son married; I figure we just have to push the rest along gently. Ginny and Harry for example, it's about time they wised up, everyone already knows how they feel and it's been so hard on Ginny with him gone this past year." She replied matter-of-factly.

"But, Molly! They're so young! She's only sixteen, they can't get married now!" Mr Weasley argued.

"In case you have forgotten Arthur we were young when we got married. And anyway that's not what I was saying!" she countered.

"Well what are you saying?" Arthur asked, becoming more confused by the minute; he loved his wife dearly, but it was often a struggle to keep up with her thought processes. It had always been that way, and he wouldn't change it.

"I'm saying what I said a moment ago, they just need a gentle push," she turned and looked at her husband with gentle eyes and said, "After all that has happened, they should be together. They have a wonderful opportunity to love, and something I have learned from you is that there is nothing greater on this earth than love. And all of my children need that too."

Mr Weasley took his wife's hand in his and kissed it softly before continuing down the stairs, fingers entwined.

**XXXXXXX**

Percy and Ginny were standing at the living room door ready to ambush and unsuspecting Mr and Mrs Weasley and herd them into the kitchen.

When they were on the nearest landing Percy went to the kitchen to start brewing the tea, making a show of noisily collecting the cups hoping to naturally lure them to the noise. As they reached the final stair Ginny emerged from the living room arm resting on the doorframe, effectively blocking their path.

"Hey Mum, Dad," she said with a small sad smile. They returned the gesture and made to walk into the living room and Ginny stepped in front of them waving her arm frantically behind her back to indicate to everyone else to keep out of sight and, more importantly, keep George quiet. Just as her mother was about to enquire about her strange behaviour Ginny spoke,

"Umm, Percy's making tea if you want some?" she asked, almost willing her parents to turn around to the kitchen with her eyes.

"Oh yes that would be lovely, dear." Mrs Weasley replied kindly, and again made to walk into the sitting room.

Ginny, deciding quickly that talking wasn't going to work linked her arm through her mothers and physically led her and her father into the kitchen, frantically explaining by saying,

"Let's sit in the kitchen at the table and I'll have a look and see if there are some biscuits, eh?"

Mrs Weasley smiled at her daughter, mistaking her behaviour as trying to help distract her mother from Fred; when unbeknownst to her it was his twin in which she needed to be distracted from.

There was a collective sigh of relief when from the living room; the distinct sounds of chairs scraping on the floor could be heard, indicating that they had finally sat safely in the kitchen.

Ron gave a swift nod and went to the bathroom to search for something to cure his inebriated brother – even though he felt he would perhaps deserve the hangover as a lesson to not get into this state again. He shook his head and sighed as he started rifling through the remedy cupboard.

Slowly Hermione led the procession up the stairs creeping on the creaky wood below her feet. She had been forewarned by Bill that there was no way to silence the stairs as his parents had made them creaky on purpose to catch him and his siblings if they were up to no good. Although it wasn't certain if this would count as 'no good'. Bill was walking up the stairs backwards his arms under Georges carrying him head first while Charlie took his legs; controlled levitation had been attempted, which caused George to vomit all over the sofa, and they decided carrying him was a better option. After a short whispered argument on who was taking which end, Bill won arguing that he was more agile due to his curse breaking and going backwards wouldn't be a problem and they began leading him up the stairs, but not before Charlie warned,

"If he pukes on me I'm going to kick your arse."

Harry was on the end, supposed to be waiting in case he needed to catch, warn or silence something or someone; but he could hear Ginny's soft voice coming from the kitchen and found himself distracted, wanting to talk to her more, or _kiss_ her more. Harry liked kissing Ginny, well '_like probably isn't a strong enough word'_, he mused. '_I certainly need to be doing more than that...'_

THUD

Harry was startled from his thoughts to see Bill lying on the landing with George sprawled on top of him, Charlie still holding his feet with his eyes crinkled shut. Hermione peeked round from the next set of stairs eyes wide and whispered an apology to Bill,

"I'm sorry, I probably should have told you that there were no more stairs." Bill looked up at her irritably not saying a word.

"_Muffilato,_" Harry said pointing his wand down at the Kitchen door, in an almost bored manner.

"Why didn't _I_ think of that?" Hermione said incredulously looking at Harry.

"Dunno," he shrugged, "I reckon after spending ten months on the run constantly on high alert followed by what happened at Hogwarts kind of takes it out of you."

"Umm, yeah," She agreed.

Bill got back to his feet and they continued upstairs, taking not nearly as much caution to be quiet.

**XXXXXXX**

"What was that?" Mrs Weasley asked hearing a bang.

Ginny glared at Percy who took that as his cue to knock over the sugar bowl to distract his mother,

"Sorry mum, you know I've always been a bit clumsy," he said

"Not to worry dear," she said squeezing her son's hand, she was so happy to have him back.

"So Percy, what've you been up to while you were gone?" Ginny asked half interestedly as she watched Harry's trainers disappear upstairs.

Mr Weasley listened to his son's reply with rapt attention,

"Well not much really, it's been horribly boring without you all," he said with a small laugh, "I just tried to keep my head down and get on with things, and I can thankfully say, I didn't involve myself with any of you-know-who's goings on," at this statement Mr Weasley visibly relaxed, "It was hard, I never done anything other than show up at work and go home to sleep –,"

"Isn't that normal for you Perce?" Ron asked from the doorway, deftly holding potion bottles out of his mothers view, "You were the same at Hogwarts."

"Yeah, I was a bit of a tosser wasn't I?" he said, "But it was...different, because all of you were there," he finished smiling sadly. Ron returned the same smile before turning and making his way upstairs as Ginny rested her head on her brothers shoulder.

**XXXXXXX**

Ron opened the door to Percy's room quickly causing those inside to jump and turn around,

"How's it going?" Ron asked,

"Well, it's not," Charlie replied, "The puking as definitely passed, and now he's just unconscious."

"Well I couldn't find much to help him; a lot of the stuff has gone off. But I have some 'Hydration Solution' and stuff for pain, 'cause judging the state of him his headache is gonna be bloody awful." Ron set the two small vials on the bedside table and looked at his brother noticing a label stuck to his sleeve he peeled it off and grimaced, "Merlin, he drank Blacklabel Firewhiskey as well, that is not going to help much," he said indicating the two vials.

"Let's just leave him then, I'm going to go and pick up Fleur from St. Mungos," Bill said, "I'll go and pick up some dinner too 'cause there's no food in; place could do with a clean too since no one has been here in so long," he added casting a glance over his siblings, Harry and Hermione. Bill left swiftly to say goodbye to those in the kitchen followed by Charlie, Ron and Hermione.

Harry hung back and whispered, "I'm so sorry, George," he left shutting the door behind him slowly and descended the stair case praying that George would make it through this.


	12. Beginning the path to Normalcy

The days continued similarly for George. He would get up feeling like death and drink until he was unconscious. His siblings done all they could to distract Mrs Weasley from his behaviour because they didn't want to upset her more than she already was. She accepted the "George has gone out a walk" and "George is sleeping" excuses at first because she assumed that he obviously needed his time to grieve. Little did she know the path of self destruction he was on. She only discovered the truth after over hearing a whispered argument between her children.

"We have to tell mum!" Ginny hissed, "This is getting out of hand, we've all tried to stop it but in case you haven't noticed it's not working!"

"We can't! Mum's got enough on her plate trying to arrange Fred's funeral," Ron argued back fiercely.

"Ron, Ginny may be right, I don't think there is much more we can try. We're trying our best to look after him but we're scraping him off the floor and putting him to bed, then he's gone before we can even talk to him," Bill explained reasonably.

"Yeah, and he's not entirely receptive to leaving the bar when we try to force him. Remember that time he hooked me 'cause I went to get him? I had to bloody _stupefy _him," Charlie added.

"But, what if Mum can't handle it? It's hard enough for her just now. I say we vote," Percy said diplomatically.

"That won't be necessary," Mrs Weasley said stepping into the living room in front of her guilty looking children.

"Mum –"

"Enough I don't want to hear excuses, now what's going on?" she interrupted.

**XXXXXXXX**

"GEORGE!"

"shhhhhh, blo-ody effing hell," George groaned throwing his arm over his eyes.

The backroom he had acquired in the leaky cauldron was spinning and the yelling wasn't helping his pounding head. The floor was littered with bottles – which had become all too common. The door behind him sprang open revealing a worried looking Mrs Weasley who rushed over to her son,

"George, what've you done to yourself?" Mrs Weasley asked sadly, "Come on I'm taking you home."

George didn't protest as Mrs Weasley hoisted him out of the chair and apparated back to the Burrow.

**XXXXXXXX**

George opened a bleary eye and winced at the sunlight creeping through the gap in the curtains. Suddenly the curtains flew open and the window was opened letting in a cool, fresh spring breeze. Startled by the sudden movement he noticed his mother out of the corner of his eye standing with her arms crossed at the bedroom door. He didn't say a word and simply pulled the duvet over his head and waited for her to leave. She didn't. He heard her sit across from him on Percy's bed. It was only when she finally spoke did George realise how painful his headache was.

"George," she said worriedly, "George, I need you to talk to me, love."

Silence.

"George Weasley do not ignore me," Mrs Weasley said sternly, "What would Fred say – "

George threw the covers back and glared at his mother,

"Fred would say nothing because he's dead, Mum. Or didn't you realise?" he said harshly.

"Don't you dare say that to me, George! While you've been out getting disgustingly drunk, it's been me and your father arranging his funeral. You should be ashamed of yourself. Your brothers and sister haven't even had a moment to grieve for themselves because they've been running about after you and helping me and your father. Do you think this is how Fred would want you to behave? You're not the only one who's lost him, and you'd do well to remember that!" she fumed, outraged at her son's accusation.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE!" he roared "HE WASN'T JUST MY BROTHER, HE WAS MY BEST FRIEND! I'VE NEVER HAD TO LIVE WITHOUT HIM AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO!" George stopped his tirade with a heaving sob and the tears came thick and fast – his head was pounding, but the pain from the loss of his brother was greater.

Mrs Weasley moved to her sons bed and put her arms around him,

"I can't truly understand how this feels for you, love; but we all lost him and all miss him terribly. You can't keep doing this to yourself, you look dreadful, and it's not healthy."

"I know," he sobbed, "I'm sorry Mum, it's just so hard."

"That's alright dear, I'm not expecting you to jump out of bed and turn Ron's teddy bear into a spider," she said, bringing a flicker of light to George's eyes, "Or wind up Percy, but just be with us, okay?" she asked

George nodded slightly and wiped his hands over his eyes, "I'll try."

**XXXXXXXX**

The Weasley boys had taken an active stance in returning the wizarding world to a state of normalcy. It would be a long road, of course, but it provided a wonderful distraction from the loss of Fred.

Bill and Fleur had been staying at Shell Cottage and apparating to the Burrow every day since the battle to try and help; Mrs Weasley didn't protest when she found Fleur in the kitchen early in the morning preparing food that was unlikely to be touched. Mrs Weasley kept her hands busy without actually doing much – folding and re-folding clean laundry and dusting the same shelves in the living room.

Bill was spending his time in Gringotts, taking part in managing the government finances, releasing life insurances and the assets of those lost in the war to those stipulated in Wills. The selfishness of some witches and wizards at this time angered him; resulting in many a rant in the evenings to his wife. He couldn't understand that instead of everyone banding together to pick up the pieces of their nation, some were focused on their personal gain and were happy to return to their homes and remain ignorant to the needs of others.

Needing to find a way to help, Charlie had contacted Professor McGonagall to enquire about the reconstruction of Hogwarts. He had become an active member of the team working to restore the castle to its original glory. Each morning after nibbling on Fleur's breakfast he would apparate up north and work until dusk before returning home and falling straight to sleep, exhausted.

Percy was, unsurprisingly, at the ministry, working hard with Kingsley Shacklebolt; every department had been shut down, sans the Aurors, whom were working hard at rounding up all the death eaters that had escaped after the battle and raiding the homes of those that had passed to destroy any dark objects they kept in their homes. Percy and Kingsley spent hours each day completely restructuring and re-staffing the departments, ensuring that they only had the best for the jobs.

"A lot more jobs have become available than what was first anticipated; it obviously wasn't realised how many were in support of you-know-who or secretly a death eater," Percy informed his family one evening at dinner, "I mean Kurt Payne from the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophe's was a death eater, and that came as a shock to everyone who worked with him! He was such a highly esteemed Obliviator, and to think he'd used that to help you-know-who is awful! And there's been heated debates with the Wizengamot because Kingsley is using Veritaserum to interview all of the staff to see if they should keep their jobs; he doesn't want the same thing to happen that happened at the end of the last war. All these people saying that they were imperiused and such, he just wants to have some honesty. Of course there are some people that I suppose 'helped' the death eaters because they were being threatened as well. I think Kingsley's doing a fantastic job, he's not taking any rubbish, and I think it's about time the ministry had a minister like that."

Percy's rants were welcomed by everyone. They all sat either with rapt attention or spaced out not wishing to speak. Harry hung on his every word, as did Hermione and Ron, eager to learn what was happening. Mrs Weasley hadn't let them leave her sight for more than half an hour at a time. Moaning about it one afternoon Ginny, not so politely explained to them why.

"Uck, shut it the lot of you! You were gone for so long and she didn't know if you were dead or alive; she's just scared that she's going to wake up one morning and you won't really be home. Just give it a rest, eh? It's not like you can go anywhere without the press ambushing you anyway; so why don't you just welcome the rest from all of this war shite?"

And with that she stormed away to help her Mum choose the flowers for Fred's funeral.

**A/N:**

**Hey, thanks for reading. Next chapter will be Fred's funeral. I want to do it justice so it won't be rushed by any means, but I do plan on keeping more regular updates after not updating for such long periods of time **

**thanks xx**


	13. Fred's Funeral

Sitting around the scrubbed wooden kitchen table was the entire Weasley brood. The plans were to be finalised for Fred's funeral tomorrow and Mrs Weasley had been adamant that everyone stay home to help set everything up. It had been arranged for the wizard that officiated Bill and Fleurs wedding to conduct the funeral – as Mrs Weasley had put it, he had done a wonderful job in presenting Dumbledore's memory at his funeral; and she wanted Fred to be remembered, not laid to rest and forgotten. Although; as any of her children could have told her; they would never forget him for one day of their life.

Fred was a part of the heart and soul of their family. The duo that was Fred and George had never failed to brighten up the burrow – literally sometimes, what with the frequent explosions. They were often labelled as trouble makers; but in all honesty they had never done anything to intentionally hurt someone with their pranks. Ron his spider phobia was a complete accident; and when they almost done an unbreakable vow with him – they didn't understand the seriousness with it being so young themselves.

That light they brought to the Burrow was gone. There was heaviness in the air they breathed and everything looked like shades of grey – that light was gone from their lives. The vibrant buds beginning to bloom outside the window crude and unwelcome.

Mrs Weasley took a long breath looking at the scribbled list in front of her and said, "We still need to conjure the chairs for the service."

Percy raised his wand and with a swoosh conjured a stiff, black, straight backed chair, "Will ones like that do, Mum?" he asked.

She was about to reply dejectedly that they'd be fine when George scoffed, "I don't think so, why don't you just get everyone to stick poles up their arses and balance."

"George, please don't be so rude to your brother, he is only trying to help and you've sat there and had something negative to say about every plan or decision we make," said Mrs Weasley.

"That's because it's not what _we_ planned," he murmured looking at his clasped hands resting on the table.

"What are you talking about George," Mr Weasley asked softly. George didn't lift his eyes while he spoke.

"Well. We talked about it. F-Fred and I. We knew it could happen, we weren't stupid. It's war," if a pin had dropped it would have sounded like a pack of wild horses storming the Burrow; that's why everyone at the table heard the soft splash of a tear drop from Georges eye and hit the table he refused to look from, "we j-just didn't think that it w-would only happen to one of us and not t-the other. We didn't p-plan for this. We wrote a joint Will a few months ago, and it had i-instructions for a f-funeral,"

George was struggling to speak any longer as he thought of the conversation he and his beloved brother had which resulted in the Will. "_Nah, there's no chance one of us will die and the other wont, we're inseparable my dear Georgie; if it comes down to it we'll be fighting those death eater pillocks together anyway. And come on, you know you'd just die without me," _he had joked_, _

"_Too right Freddikins."_

"_Gred and Forge forever mate. In life, or in death."_

George stood up suddenly his chair toppling over behind him, "It's in the safe at the shop, someone can go and get it," he started for the stairs, trying to run from the feelings that had just consumed him, he stopped with his foot on the bottom step and added, "except instead of two of everything, it'll only be one."

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

It was a going to be a miserable day Harry decided standing in the back garden looking up to the sky. Not a single patch of sky could be seen through the dense grey cloud. Grey. Again. It was the 9th of May and the weather was still mourning. It was 5am and Harry couldn't sleep, which was a regular occurrence these days. He couldn't believe it had only been one week since the war had ended; it haunted him like it was still happening; every time he closed his eyes it was like he was standing in the middle of the battle. Everything was in slow motion. And he whirled around shouting warnings to his friends as he watched them getting struck by jets of green light and crumple before his eyes. He shivered, even though it wasn't a particularly cold morning.

He walked through the garden to the patch of trees near the boundary, feeling the wet dewy grass between his toes. He reached an old ladder nailed to the trunk of a tree and climbed into the old treehouse he had found two early mornings before. He sat on a mouldy old cushion that had been left to rot for what must've been years and rested his head against the wooden wall behind him. It was full of tattered and weather-worn old drawings that had been spellotaped to the walls. The Weasley children obviously only played in here as young children, coming to an age when they decided they were too old to play in the treehouse. There was a picture labelled "Fred, age 6" which showed his family as it was then; Mrs Weasley was holding what looked like a little pink sausage with red hair – it was labelled "Jiny" in an untidy scrawl. It made him smile; suddenly struck with an idea he tapped it with his wand and copied it. He rolled it up and stuck it in his pyjama bottom pocket and headed back to the house to get ready for the funeral.

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

"This feels wrong," Percy said eyeing the funeral set up, "I know it's what he wanted but, I thought funerals should be a bit more _tasteful_."

Ginny punched his arm, "You better shut up, this is what he wanted and it's what George wanted. So shut your trap and sit. down." she hissed.

It wasn't bad at all actually considering it had been Fred and George's ideas. One would assume it would be akin to the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes decor, but it wasn't. Percy was just being his usual prim and proper self. The flower arrangements were beautiful; there were vast amounts of bright orange gerbera daisies, deep orange chrysanthemums, with smatterings of white lily of the valley flowers and the pale lilac of forget-me-nots entwined. The chairs were decidedly more comfortable that the ones Percy had suggested. They were pale purple and had comfortable cushions on the seat and on the back – they wouldn't have looked too out of place at Bill and Fleur's wedding had that been the shade of purple they had chosen. The music was the only other thing that had changed, instead of depressing the life out of everyone with a slow death march a more upbeat song had been chosen with a melancholy edge - it maintained a better atmosphere. It felt more like Fred and felt like a more appropriate way to remember him.

There weren't many guests at the funeral; the Weasley's decided to keep it a small affair so they themselves didn't feel too overwhelmed by it all. The family were all in attendance including Auntie Muriel whom had already insulted Mrs Weasley to a degree that caused a massive shouting match and now Muriel hadn't spoken one more word to anyone; much to the relief of everyone around her. Fred and George's school mates were there to say goodbye to their friend, namely the old Quidditch team. The surviving Order members were also there; Kingsley had dedicated time out of his busy schedule to attend all of the funerals of his fallen friends and comrades.

Molly had invited Andromeda too, as they had become quite close through correspondence when they were both in hiding. She had almost declined due to not being able to get a babysitter for little Teddy when Molly insisted she bring him. This was the first time any of the Weasleys and Harry and Hermione had had a chance to meet little Teddy, the end of the battle had been messy and whirlwind. Harry was most anxious to meet Teddy, he was his godfather there would surely be expectations. But as soon as Teddy seen him, he broke into a gummy grin and his hair turned black and stuck up in the back just like Harry's.

"Oh I think he likes you Harry," Andromeda said with a soft smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "would you like to hold him?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea, I don't know how to hold a baby" He said sounding very unsure of himself.

"Oh don't be silly, it's not hard and he's struggling out of my grip to get to you anyway. Here," she said holding Teddy out to be held.

Harry cautiously lifted Teddy out of Andromeda's arms and held him with his arm tucked under his padded nappy and the other resting on his back. Harry was naturally paternal it seemed. "Hello, Teddy, I'm Harry, your godfather," he said gently only to be shocked when Teddy's chubby fist reached up and grabbed his glasses from his face and stuffed one of the lenses in his mouth, coating it in sticky saliva.

"That's a bit spooky, he could be yours," Ginny said having just entered the living room, "Everyone is here and the service starts in ten minutes so I was just coming to get you all."

Harry extracted his glasses from Teddy's tiny fist and placed them back on his nose – now only able to see out of one side. He made to hand Teddy back to Andromeda but he started to fuss and settled only once securely in Harry's arms again.

"I don't blame him, he must be fed up with me. I'm not as young as I once was; I think he can sense my weariness," Andromeda sighed, "I'm looking forward to the stage when he'll sleep through the night. I might start to feel like myself again."

But Harry felt that while his time in knowing Andromeda had been very short; this was a woman who would never be the same again. Even with a decent night's sleep. During the first War on Voldemort; Andromeda had all but signed her death wish by refusing to join the Death Eaters and marrying a Muggle born instead. Then she built herself a family, only to lose them this time. Her husband and her daughter, whom for many years had been the only family she knew. Now she had Teddy, the constant reminder of what she had lost staring back at her.

Harry made his way down to the service which was being held at the end of the garden, just before the paddock over the boundary. Harry was very thankful for the distraction in the form of Teddy sitting on his lap. The pain of everyone around him, was bearing down upon him from all sides. Concentrating on Teddy was the only thing keeping him together; until he blinked and instead of Harry's own eyes staring up at him Remus's soft brown eyes were looking at him with gentle confusion. His eyes filled with tears and his throat closed, he looked at the grass between his shoes, and willed himself to get through the next few hours with the guilt eating away at his insides.

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**

"And though Fred will no longer walk through life with us; we will remember him in everything that we do. He was a wonderful young man, he will never be forgotten to those who knew him best." Harry didn't realise that the funeral had ended until everyone around him got to their feet. He felt so overwhelmed with the sadness that it was like everything was in slow motion. He raised his eyes from the ground to see all the Weasleys gathered around George who was completely beside himself with grief. As was Mr and Mrs Weasley, their faces crumpled at the sight of their sons coffin descending into the ground. It felt final. Harry's ears were ringing, he felt sick. He spotted Andromeda to his left and all but threw Teddy at her and sprinted to the treehouse. He climbed the ladder, casting a muffliato charm as he did. He took a deep breath and let out every bit of grief and anger he could. He battered his fists against the walls until splinters imbedded themselves in his knuckles and they bled. He screamed and howled until his head pounded. It seemed Harry's downward spiral was beginning.


End file.
